Education minister Leighton Andrews has launched an external review of the “quality and equity” of education in Wales.

Education minister Leighton Andrews has launched an external review of the “quality and equity” of education in Wales.

Mr Andrews has asked the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – which runs the international Pisa survey – to pit Wales’ education system against the best in the word.

The review will focus on children aged three to 16 and consider alternative policy areas that could add value to the Welsh Government’s reform programme.

Officials will report back in March 2014, three months after the results of this year’s Pisa tests – conducted in November – are published.

Mr Andrews made the announcement during a meeting with OECD officials at the organisation’s headquarters in Paris.

The Rhondda AM said: “I have made a clear commitment to raising standards and performance in schools across Wales. To achieve this we must improve levels of literacy and numeracy and reduce the impact of deprivation on educational attainment.

“I’ve already put in place many of the policies needed to drive improvement but it’s really important that we understand where we stand globally if we really want to deliver the best outcomes for children and young people in Wales.

“If we’re to be amongst the best we need to learn from the best, that’s why I have requested this review.”

Pisa uses a representative sample of students from more than 70 countries to gauge how different education systems are performing against one another.

Wales was ranked 38th for reading, 40th for maths and 30th for science the last time tests were carried out across a snapshot of 123 secondary schools in 2009.

The results were well below expectations and triggered a robust response from Mr Andrews, who unveiled a 20-point improvement plan designed to propel Welsh schools up the international ladder.

Dr Philip Dixon, director of teaching union ATL Cymru, said: “This further review of education is welcome as it will bring some outside scrutiny to our situation.

“Although we have to make policy in Wales for Wales, we need to learn from the best the world has to offer if we are not to become too insular and parochial. Although the review will focus on three to 16 education, we hope that it will also examine in depth the support that other parts of the system bring to schools to help them in their task.”

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